New Chefodex Service Brings Badass Local Chefs to Cook at Your Parties

Gone are the days when catered dinners impressed clients and made birthdays special. After all, you can only eat so many baked pasta dishes from a chafing dish. Newly launched Chefodex brings the "special" back into special occasion by inviting big-name chefs to cook at your next big affair. For a price, of course.

The chefs attached to the new service are nearly all of Seattle's heaviest hitters, with Tom Douglas, Ethan Stowell, Tamara Murphy, Thierry Rautureau all available to fete your wife or throw a memorable birthday party. But while those famous folks are likely going to demand a steep check, the roster is long and there are incredible up-and-comers (and Eater favorites) available who may be a bit more affordable.

"If you want a big name, they're available. But one of my favorite things about the service is that very talented chefs can gain some mobility outside their standard kitchen, and can make a name for themselves," says co-founder Julien Perry, who runs Chefodex with an unnamed partner in the food industry.

"One of my favorite things about the service is that very talented chefs can gain some mobility outside their standard kitchen, and can make a name for themselves," says co-founder Julien Perry.

Perry has plenty of practice creating one-of-a-kind experiences. The former Seattle magazine (and Eater Seattle!) editor is also the co-creator of ONO: The One Night Only Project. Rather than the curation of events, the new Chefodex allows Perry to call on her dozen years of contacts in the food world and let them be in charge of the night.

"The number of people, price, menu, that's all the chef's call," Perry tells Eater. When clients are interested in hiring a specific chef, Perry sends out a query to get a quote and a menu for them. The "spin the Chefodex" feature also allows would-be-diners who don't have a particular chef in mind to send their needs to the Chefodex team, which will then send back a suggested chef and sample menu for approval.

Perry's plan is to expand Chefodex to other markets shortly, with Portland the next on the list.